1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sealing structure of a refrigerator, and more particularly, to a sealing structure of a refrigerator in which external heat can be effectively prevented from being transferred to an internal of a refrigerator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a refrigerator discharges cool air, which is generated through a refrigerating cycle using a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve and an evaporator, to drop an internal temperature of the refrigerator, thereby refrigerating or cooling foods.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a door of a related-art refrigerator.
Referring to FIG. 1, the door 10 includes a door exterior 20 formed of iron, and a door liner 30 formed by vacuously shaping Acrylonitrile-ButadieneStyrene (ABS) resin to have a predetermined shape. Additionally, the door 10 includes urethane foam 40 for thermal insulation between the door exterior 20 and the door liner 30.
Alternatively, a gasket is installed at the door liner 30 to prevent the leakage-out of cool air of the refrigerator to the external and concurrently, to cut-off an introduction of external heat into the refrigerator, thereby insulating the internal of the refrigerator from the external. A description thereof is made in FIG. 2.
FIG. 2 is a sectional view illustrating a sealing structure of a related-art refrigerator, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged view illustrating “A” portion of FIG. 2.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the refrigerator includes a door 10 installed at a front portion thereof, a door exterior 20 constituting an exterior of the door 10, a door liner 30 combined to the door exterior 20, and urethane foam 40 formed between the door exterior 20 and the door liner 30.
Further, the refrigerator includes an outer case 60 made of an iron plate, and an inner case 70 connected with the outer case 60. Additionally, the refrigerator includes an air dam 80 provided between the door liner 30 and the inner case 70, and a gasket 50 fixed to the door liner 30.
In detail, the gasket 50 includes a magnet 51, and a cohering part 52 for allowing the door 10 to be cohered to a front surface of a body of the refrigerator by using a magnetic force of the inserted magnet 51, thereby sealing the refrigerator itself.
Further, the gasket 50 is integrated with a lower portion of the cohering part 52. The gasket 110 includes a first connection part 53, a second connection part 54, and a third connection part 55, which function as barriers for forming a predetermined space at a lower portion of the cohering part 52. Additionally, the gasket 50 includes a first air pocket 56 provided by the first connection part 53 and the second connection part 54; and a second air pocket 57 provided by the second connection part 54 and the third connection part 55.
Further, the gasket 50 is installed at a lower portion of the refrigerator. The gasket 50 includes an anchor-shaped combining part 58 for allowing the cohering part 52, the first connection part 53, the second connection part 54, and the third connection part 55 to be inserted and fixed to a combination groove provided at the door liner 30.
Hereinafter, an operation of opening and closing the related-art refrigerator door is described.
First, if a user pushes the door 10 to close the door 10, the door 10 is closed to a whole surface of a body of the refrigerator, thereby attaching the cohering part 52 to the outer case 60 by a magnetism of the magnet 51. Additionally, the attachment causes the refrigerator to be completely cut off from the external by a sealing function of the gasket 50.
Alternatively, if the user pulls the door 10 to open the door 10, a tensile load acts to cause the door liner 30 to pull the combining part 58. Additionally, the tensile load causes the first connection part 53, the second connection part 54 and the third connection part 55 to be pulled, and also the cohering part 52 to be pulled. Accordingly, the magnet 51 is separated from the outer case 60, and the separation causes the body of the refrigerator to be opened.
As such, the gasket 50 used at the door 10 should function to maintain strong airtightness between the door 10 and the body. That is, the gasket 50 should effectively perform an insulation function to cut off the leakage of the cool air from the internal of the refrigerator to the external, and concurrently to cut off a heat transfer from the external to the internal of the refrigerator.
Alternatively, the first connection part 53 is exposed to a room temperature of the external air, and the third connection par 55 is exposed to the cool air of the refrigerator. Accordingly, a temperature difference between the external air and the cool air generates natural convection in the first air pocket 56 and the second air pocket 57 at one side of which the third connection part 55 is formed.
Further, the external heat transferred to the first connection part 53 is transferred to the second connection part 54 by air circulation of within the first air pocket 56. Additionally, the heat transferred to the second connection part 54 is transferred to the third connection part 55 by air circulation of within the second air pocket 57. Additionally, the heat transferred to the third connection part 55 causes the nature convection in the air dam 80. Additionally, the heat is transferred to the cool air of within the refrigerator by the natural convection.
However, the related-art gasket does not have a structure for preventing the natural convection generated in the air pocket and/or the air dam. Accordingly, there is a drawback in that an internal temperature of the refrigerator increases and a cooling performance of the refrigerator is greatly reduced due to intact transference of the external heat to the internal of the refrigerator through the natural convection.